On Friday, a group of Denver citizens—including developer Kyle Zeppelin—filed a motion in Federal court to enjoin the Colorado Department of Transportation (“CDOT”) from proceeding with its controversial plan to expand I-70 through Denver. If the motion is successful it could bring a halt to the highway project, which has been derided by critics as an expensive and backwards-thinking boondoggle that threatens the health of predominantly low-income and Latino neighborhoods in north Denver.

CDOT and the Federal Highway Administration’s (“FHWA”) alleged failure to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) is the basis for the sought injunction. Namely, the plaintiffs assert that CDOT and the FHWA are proceeding with the I-70 project without two areas of required study: (1) a failure to study the effect on human health of the project in light of the disturbance of toxic materials present in the Superfund site where the project is located, and (2) a failure to study the environmental and other impacts of the City of Denver and CDOT’s joint proposed “Platte to Park Hill” drainage project, which the plaintiffs allege is designed to protect the proposed subgrade lowering of I-70.

The EPA has determined that part of the I-70 construction area contains conditions that “present a threat to public health and environment[,]” and that “excavation of these metal contaminated soils pose the threat of additional releases of these hazardous substances to the environment.” Nevertheless, CDOT did not analyze how the disturbance or spread of these contaminants may actually impact human health and the environment before deciding to proceed with the I-70 project, the plaintiffs allege.

The Platte to Park Hill project is the City of Denver and CDOT’s joint massive $300M drainage project planned for north Denver. CDOT is paying up to $60M toward this project. “Under NEPA, CDOT and the FHWA were required to study the Platte to Park Hill project, because it is connected to the I-70 project. They did not do so, in violation of federal law,” said Aaron Goldhamer, an attorney at the law firm Keating Wagner Polidori Free, P.C., that is representing the plaintiffs.

Goldhamer also represented various Denver residents in a suit against the City of Denver that was tried to a state court judge in August. That case alleged that the portion of the Platte to Park Hill project planned for City Park Golf Course—which is designated parkland—was unlawful under the Denver Charter because the project constituted highway construction and drainage support, which runs afoul of the Denver Charter’s restriction of parkland to “park purposes.” That case still awaits determination.

Additional plaintiffs to the federal case include Brad Evans, Christine O’Connor, Kimberly Morse, Jacqueline Lansing, and Janet Feder. Melissa Hailey of Keating Wagner and Jay Tuchton of the Tutchton Law Office also represent these plaintiffs. “Melissa Hailey is really the brains behind this operation, and is pulling the laboring oar,” Goldhamer said of Hailey, a former WildEarth Guardians attorney.

The plaintiffs expect that their requested injunction will be determined no later than early 2018, before CDOT is scheduled to begin construction. CDOT and the FHWA will have an opportunity to respond to the plaintiffs’ motion, and an injunction hearing is possible. If the injunction is granted, it would bode well for a final determination that CDOT would have to reissue an Environmental Impact Study before proceeding with the I-70 project, as “likelihood of success on the merits” is an important factor in obtaining injunctive relief. Likewise, if the injunction is granted, CDOT may not be able to help pay for the Platte to Park Hill project. If that happens, Goldhamer thinks “the City might scrap their Platte to Park Hill project. After all, they did not have any plan for it in Denver’s 2014 Storm Drainage Master Plan, before CDOT apparently realized they needed to account for more drainage issues and talked Denver into helping them out.”

Goldhamer’s City Park Golf Course case uncovered a document that Denver had fought to keep secret: a 2014 Montclair Creek Drainage Feasibility Evaluation, which clarified the following in writing:

CDOT’s Project Manager, Keith Stefanik[,] has confirmed from his management team that CDOT cannot include any of the Montclair Creek open channel projects [now known as Platte to Park Hill] in their design/build contract for the I-70 PCL project. To amend their Environmental Impact Study (EIS) to include an open channel option is such a large change in scope that they would have to start their NEPA EIS process essentially over again. It has taken them two years to get to the point of where they are ready to submit their supplemental package, and they are unwilling to jeopardize their progress on the EIS for the I-70 PCL.

NEPA requirements will activate if we use federal funding. If any of the Montclair Creek projects have to undergo a NEPA process, we understand from CDOT’s NEPA Project Manager, Kirk Webb, that this process would take a minimum of 2 to 3 years. Based on the I-70 PCL schedule, these projects are not a viable option for the City and County of Denver to pursue. It is understood if we are able to secure non-Federal funding for these project [sic], then we would not have to undergo a NEPA process.

In addition to the City Park Golf Course case, additional litigation concerning I-70—both in the District of Columbia and in Colorado Federal court—remains pending. A case filed in Colorado by the Sierra Club and neighborhood groups has been consolidated with the Zeppelin plaintiffs’ matter for purposes of case management.

The Zeppelin plaintiffs’ motion for the injunction is attached. Additional exhibits and pleadings in the case are available from the Federal District Court for the District of Colorado or upon request to the contact listed above.

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The City and County of Denver and Saunders Construction are hosting a community open house to share updates on the redesign of City Park Golf Course. There will be stations with information on the following aspects[...]

Councilman Rafael Espinoza has been vocal about his concerns about the project.
“This is a colossal misuse of hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayer’s money that could be addressing a whole bunch of stormwater needs citywide,” Espinoza said in an interview. “While I think there is a nice and beautiful and more playable way of doing what we’re doing today, yes, I don’t object to the concept.”
That is, using the golf course for detention might be OK — just not like this.
“I do object to the way we’re using city funds and creating projects that aren’t necessary and building projects that aren’t necessary for this city, but are necessary for the interstate and confusing the two,” Espinoza said.
There are also questions as to whether the City Park Golf Course renovations will even see the light of day with multiple lawsuits against the project. Espinoza questioned how much the design process is costing the city for a project that could be halted by the court. Read more →

What does it say about our city and the value of its commitments when in one breath our mayor can pledge long term stewardship of the Denver Press Club building and in the next sacrifice City Park Golf Course to redevelopment for drainage? City Park Friends and Neighbors believe Denver can do better and we urge the Hancock Administration to meet the commitment it made to preserve and protect City Park Golf Course. Read more →